SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior middle blocker Lily Zeff pounded out 11 kills on just 12 attempts, while senior outside hitter Lana Ezeani matched that kills total in just two sets, helping St. Francis hit .477 as a team in a 25-7, 25-13, 25-12 sweep of Sheldon in Delta League girls' volleyball action Tuesday night.
The Troubadours improve to 23-8 overall and 10-1 in Delta League play.
The varsity sweep followed even more dominating wins by the St. Francis frosh (25-7, 25-5) and junior varsity (25-7, 25-9). Both sub-varsity squads move to 11-0 in league play. Frosh's overall mark goes to 25-1 with JV improving to 30-1, each with one match left on the schedule.
In all, St. Francis totaled 38 kills against just seven errors en route to its .477 hitting average in the varsity nightcap, the highest efficiency for a match by the team since a 21-3-37 (.486) chart in a 2-0 win against Willow Glen in a tournament at Presentation High on September 18, 2021. For a full best-of-five match, the program must go back to a 42-3-78 (.500) against Enochs in the first round of the 2019 Sac-Joaquin Section tourney.
Zeff committed no attacking errors in her 12 swings, while Ezeani had just one: a line shot that barely missed its mark and ended a 9-0 start to the match. Ezeani had four kills in that initial stretch, then scored four more in completing the 25-7 win in the opening set. Senior Amanda Silber also went errorless at 3-0-3, meaning the two middles combined for 14-0-15 (.933).
The Troubies also dominated at the service line, totaling 21 aces. Senior Jacqueline Smith and junior Isabella Ramos each had six, with Ramos landing 4-0 straight in a 12-0 run that pulled SF away from a 9-9 tie. Setter Kelsey Magley served up another four to go with her role in running the offense, which she shared with junior Nika Jafari.
Tuesday marks the penultimate match of the regular season for St. Francis volleyball. The Troubies will host Cosumnes Oaks on a special night Thursday. Not only will the team honor eight seniors – Datwyler, Ezeani, Magley, Silber, Smith, Zeff, Caroline Foraker and Mila Stojakovic – but it will include head coach Alynn Wright in as part of the tribute.
Wright will retire after 35 years at the Troubie helm. Her career at St. Francis includes a CIF state championship, two CIF Northern California titles, 13 Sac-Joaquin Section banners, 24 league crowns, 16 league Coach of the Year awards, three Sacramento Bee Coach of the Year accolades, and the 1993 National Women And Girls In Sports Coach of the Year nod. She also captured the Sac-Joaquin Section Model Coach award (2005) and the NFHS Coaches Association Coach of the Year (2018), plus induction into the halls of fame for Justin Siena High School (2012), the CIF-SJS (2014) and the Sacramento Optimist All-Stars (2019).
Thursday's tripleheader begins with the frosh match at 4:30, with JV and varsity following. The senior ceremony and recognition of Coach Wright will take place prior to the start of the varsity nightcap, approximately 6:30 p.m.
